With minimum wage discussions and changes in labor laws, many corporations are now being ordered to pay their employees their just due. In a recent agreement reached between the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and Walt Disney Co.’s subsidiaries, Disney Vacation Club Management Corp. and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S. Inc., $3.8 million will be paid back to employees due to compliance violations. To ensure compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), back wages will be paid to 16,339 employees of the Disney Vacation Club and Disney Parks and Resorts. The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division found violations of minimum wage, overtime, and record keeping provisions of FLSA. Disney resorts in Florida deducted a uniform or “costume” expense that caused some employees’ hourly rates to fall below the federal minimum wage, the division said. The resorts also did not compensate employees performing duties during a pre-shift period before the designated start of their shifts, and during a post-shift period. Additionally, the resorts failed to maintain required time and payroll records. “These violations are not uncommon and are found in other industries, as well,” said Daniel White, district director for the Wage and Hour Division in Jacksonville. “Employers cannot make deductions that take workers below the minimum wage and must accurately track and pay for all the hours their employees work, including any time they work before or after their scheduled shifts. We hope the resolution of this case alerts other employers who may be paying employees in a similar manner, so that they too can correct their practices and operate in compliance with the law.” “The Disney resorts were very cooperative throughout the investigative process and worked with the division to ensure employees received the pay they earned,” White said. For more information on federal wage laws, visit www.dol.gov/whd/.
